After This
by evafreed
Summary: The world is saved, yet again. But Xander can't help but wonder what he's supposed to do next. And Andrew just has to pipe up...Xandrew slash. Post Season 7, ignoring Season 8.
1. Settling In, Part I

**AFTER THIS**

**Warnings: **Slash, eventual sex, introductory angst, minor character death.

**Feedback: **Yes, please. I'll take flames, too, as long as they aren't homophobic.

**Music (used while writing): **Wise Up by Aimee Mann, Anchors Away by Holding Mercury, Virtue the Cat by the Weakerthans.

**Notes: **I wanted to write Xander in a slash pairing since the season 3 finale, but no characters did it for me. Giles was too fatherly, although I do like their relationship, which I included, he hates Spike and Angel, he barely knows Ethan, Riley is the most Marty Sue man alive, and I don't like OC's very much. Then- my knight in shining armor- the extremely flawed, canonically gay, dorky Andrew who totally bonded and connected with Xander. Hence, the story.

This is set to be a long universy fic, post Season 7, ignoring Season 8, mainly focusing on Xander and Andrew's relationship and it's development, but also including Willow/Kennedy, Faith/Robin, and possibly a Buffy or Dawn pairing. We'll see. It's centered around the group going to Cleveland, another Hellmouth location, and killing demons around there.

We'll see how long it ends up being, but I have no plans to stop it in the near future, so I guess I'll keep it going until I get bored. Xander's POV.

**CHAPTER I**

Xander can't help thinking: what next.

It's a whole big mess, his life is. The two things that defined him are gone. The two things that made him special are gone. Fighting beside Buffy- and Anya. The beautiful girl that nobody ever expected a chump like him to get.

But at least his friends are still around, and he manages a weak smile at Willow as the crew clambers on the bus. She reaches for his hand and squeezes it gently. It's their signal. When they were kids, crawling into Willow's bunk beds after a long night of watching Gilligan's Island reruns and eating so much caramel popcorn they felt like barfing, they would hold hands, one on the top, one on the bottom. And every so often the other would squeeze. To remind them that their friend was still awake.

_I'm still here. _

He's grateful for the touch, and he wants to lean into her- to hug her- but somehow Vi hip-checks him and he ends up flying into a seat next to Giles. Of all people. Giles grins at him. Or, at least, as much as Giles grins.

"Quite a... stimulating day, shall we say?" He says politely, polishing his glasses of vampire dust and dirt. Xander nods numbly, and croaks out- "Yeah."

He misses Anya right then and there. And although he knows that it's not going to go away- now, it's particularly strong. Xander misses the way she crinkles her nose before she laughs, and her too bony chin and her too literal way of talking and the stupid warm mushy way she made him feel inside and her stupid animal sweaters. He misses all her too muches and not enoughs.

And freakin' Giles has to go and make it all so much freakin' harder. "So... is Anya waiting outside? I don't believe I've seen her on the bus..." His voice fades away as he catches the expression on Xander's face. A little heartbroken. A little grief-y. A little broken.

"Oh lord-" Giles's voice catches, and he covers his mouth. Xander hears a engine revving and dimly registers that Kennedy is driving. "Xander... I'm... I'm so very sorry. Anya was a dear friend of mine, and I'm- I'm sure that she would've wanted-"

He stops. This would be where they hug.

Giles chances a warm hand on Xander's shoulder. It's awkward- they're men. They shouldn't touch like this. But Xander doesn't have a dad, not really, and Giles filled the job, and he shouldn't be shaking as much as he is.

Xander feels hot tears sliding down his cheeks. Wipes them away with a finger. More come, far too quickly, and before he knows it, Giles is folding him into his arms and he's resting against the comforting weight of Giles, the heavy smell of paper and ash and ink and fresh air and something- something Giles-y that he just can't describe. He's warm and comforting and boring and Xander cries even more at the thought that he's finally with his dad.

And Giles doesn't shush him, or say anything, or tell the countless Slayers gawking to piss off, he just holds him and that's enough. That's enough. And he waits for Xander to pull back awkwardly. "Thanks..." He mutters. There's nothing romantic about what they've done, but it's closer then they usually care to get.

Giles looks at him with hard eyes. "If you need anything- anything at all..." "I will." He mutters.

Xander doesn't actually know where Kennedy is taking them, and he says as much. Rona, sitting across from them, shrugs. So does Vi. And Buffy. "Actually, that's a good question, Xander." She says, eyes narrowed.

"KENNEDY!" Buffy bellows, stalking off through the aisles, barely stumbling when the bus sharply turns. Xander turns to watch her. This bus is all he has. He feels his heart swell just a little bit. This is all he's got, but it's a lot.

His eyes go to Kennedy first. She's no Tara, but she's beautiful, and Willow loves her, and that's enough. Willow's hand on her wrist and in her hair. And then there's Willow. His best friend for god knows how long. She's fucking amazing, and then some. She's the best person he knows, and he wants her around for a long long time.

Then to Robin and Faith, hands held in a corner, secretive smiles playing around their mouths. She's resolved- not tamed. Faith will never be "tamed". She will always be Faith, fierce and wild, but he can surprise her in a way that Xander never could.

The Slayers. These powerful, beautiful, amazing women. Rona, Vi, Shannon, Chao-Ann... his eyes drift to the spot where Amanda should be, and he wants to do something. But he doesn't.

And he sees Dawn. His Dawnie. his little sister figure, brave and smart and special. Xander is proud of her- and Xander's barely had time to be proud of anyone in his life. But he's proud of her right now.

Buffy is sitting now. She lets the sun leak through the window onto her face, and she smiles and it's so pure and true that Xander wants to cry. Buffy is at peace. At peace with life, and it's finally happened and it's fucking beautiful.

He loves them all in turn, and he loves them all at once. But he sense the one person his eyes haven't met, and although it's difficult, he turns his attention to Andrew.

Andrew Wells is sitting alone at the back of the bus. As Xander looks over at him, he makes an uncertain move to get up and join the group, but the movements of the bus reseat him. He looks glum. He looks as if he knows that he's only here by chance- he's only here because he was saved.

Xander feels a tugging desire deep in the pit of his stomach to take Andrew's hand and lead him to the front of the bus, to join the Scoobies and Slayers. But he'll settle for a conversation.

He plops himself into the seat next to Andrew, who looks up, startled, from the observation of his fingernails. "Oh. Hi, Xander. Um... I saw you crying with Mr. Giles earlier. Not-" He adds hurriedly. "Not that you looked unmanly or anything. Uhm, for example, Superman needed Wonderwoman to console him at the end of Countdo-"

"Andrew? Shut up. Number one, that was a promo image, and number two, Countdown is pretty much the worst Justice League spin off ever. EVER."

He relishes this. He relishes their similarities and this is what he likes about Andrew. Willow and Buffy and Giles have reserved nothing but scorn for Andrew, and though he tried to follow their example, he can't help but think of Anya.

Anya liked him. Anya recognized that he could be a whiny, annoying bitch, but then again, Xander was like that sometimes too. The whole world was. And it dawns on him- he loves Andrew, too. It's dumb and kinda gay, but he loves all his friends and after today, how on earth is Andrew not his friend?

He, along with everyone else, put his life on the line for the greater good. Andrew Wells has finally achieved his much coveted good guy status, and Xander is proud of him for it.

Andrew presses his forehead to the window and draws in a shaky sigh. There's still blood on his face, (_Anya's blood?_) and Xander wants to point it out with some witty joke, but his hands are trembling and his words fall flat.

He wants to watch just then. He wants to watch Andrew for just a little bit- not in a gay way, not in a artistic way- he just wants to watch somebody and pretend he's a bystander. Pretend that his life isn't limited to these leather seats and these thirteen other people. Xander watches Andrew as his profile lights up against the sunset.

"I'm so tired." Andrew laughs humorlessly, wincing as his head whacks the window after Faith, the newly assigned driver, runs over a bump. "I just want to go to sleep for pretty much ever." He awkwardly smiles, and Xander registers that they're both still in a state of shock.

"I'm pretty tired, too." Xander admits. "I'm way too buzzed to sleep, though. You know, it's funny, you're annoying me way less then you usually do." The words slipped out of his mouth abruptly, and Xander tries to backtrack, but Andrew cuts him off. "It's prrrobably because we're not talking much."

"Heh. Yeah. We should stop before we attempt to tear off each other's heads or something. We're approaching another Hellmouth."

"You mean, metaphorically?"

"No, seriously. Willow just told me we're going to Cleveland. Apparently, telepathy is really handy sometimes. Who knew?"

Andrew turns and looks at him with such admiration that it makes Xander's heart ache. Just a little bit. "Telepathy? Like... Jean Gray? That's so cool!"

Xander shrugs it off and, suddenly, he feels like he could sleep forever. "I'm going to try and fall asleep." He ventures. "Go nuts." Andrew says, and resumes his studying of the Kansas landscape.

He closes his eyes (eye?) for but a second, and he's gone into a thick, dreamless sleep.

When Xander cracks his eyes open again, he's dimly aware of a shallow breathing next to him, and the fact that his hand is on Andrew's thigh. He hastily pulls it away, and he sees that his hand is covered in dried blood- the same that's on Andrew's jeans. It comes rushing back to him. The whole stupid thing.

It's dark now, and he can barely see Dawn leaning on Vi. Nearly everyone is asleep, with the exception of Willow, who's got the driver's shift. Carefully, he extracts himself from Andrew, and- nearly as an afterthought- drapes his jacket over the sleeping man. He shifts slightly in his sleep, and he smiles, the corners of his mouth wrinkling up in that- Andrew way he has.

Xander carefully trods up to the drivers seat and touches Willow gently, his hand resting on her shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey," She says, tiredly smiling up at him. "Wanna eat?"

"Always." Xander grins at her. His Willow. "Burger King?"

"Yep."

"So... are we really going to Cleveland?" He asks, incredulous. "Because, if we're just chilling in Kansas- well, I don't want to."

"Yeah. We're going to Cleveland. None of the Slayers really have a home to go back to, and we figured that if anyone wants to leave when we get there, there's a good airport and Buffy's still got her bank card and all. So- yeah." Willow smiles at him again.

"Will?"

"Yeah, Xander?"

"Do you..." He struggles to find the words, like he's struggled to find so much tonight. "Do you think it's all going to be... okay?"

"Yeah. I think I do."

It's with her certainty that he gathers the courage to walk back to his seat with Andrew and watch him sleep. Because if it's all going to be all right, he wants to know that Anya hasn't died for nothing. That Andrew is worth protecting.

Xander thinks he is.

He falls back into sleep, roused once more a few minutes later by a sleepy Buffy rounding everyone up to grab a bite to eat. The Scoobies spilled out of the bus, yawing, stretching, chattering.

Except Andrew. Who is still sleeping, smiling, under Xander's jacket. Xander brushes a stray piece of hair off his forehead- then wants to pretend- badly- that he hasn't ever touched this skinny, squeaky boy.

He's not exactly himself right now, and so when he rouses Andrew, sleepy lashes opening for him, he merely pushes him up and along. "C'mon. We're going for food." Xander mutters, and the barely awake Andrew follows him, puppy like, as he stalks through the aisles.

The sudden, cold air hits him the second he steps off the bus, and like so many other things, he only dimly registers that they are at a Burger King in Missouri. The only reality of the world seems to be that Anya's dead.

And Anya's still dead under the harsh light of the fast food joint, Anya's still dead when he sits down to half hearted conversation with Dawn, Anya's still dead when his hands ghost over his eye patch and he goes to face the itch he can't reach.

Anya's still dead when Willow shows him to his room, Anya's still dead when he stumbles onto an uncomfortable motel bed. Anya's still dead when Willow leaves for Kennedy, and she's still dead when Xander starts to cry again.

He doesn't notice the tears until the door to his room bursts open. "Hey, Xander-"

Of course. It's a breathless Andrew, red eyes. He thinks, just for a second- that Andrew doesn't deserve to cry- because it's his fault that this whole fucking thing happened. But when Xander finds the barely there strip of blue among the puffy redness of tears. "God! Andrew, do you ever knock?"

Xander turns away from him, pinching the bridge of his nose. He doesn't want anyone to see that his face is wet. Particularly Andrew. He wants, with the faithfulness of a child, Anya. He wants Anya to lead his hand away from his face and kiss him until he stops shaking.

Andrew hovers uncertainly in the doorway. He doesn't ask to enter, but when Xander reluctantly waves his hand, he rushes into the small room. "I'm sorry." Andrew blurts, looking close to tears once again. "I'm, uh, sorry that I'm here, and I'm sorry about An-"

Xander cuts off the squeakiness with a wave of his hand. "Don't. Just- please don't." He feels fresh sobs threaten to wrack his body, and he pushes them back and attempts to lock them in the little box he's reserved for them. Xander hasn't felt himself cry- really cry- since he was a really little kid.

And suddenly, the memories just build up. Spike raping Buffy. Dark Willow. His dad. Anya. All the horrific things he's seen and been forced to deal with as if it was nothing over the years. The tears come, and he begins to cry like he's never cried before.

The box is opened, and the slow buildup comes rushing out, and he remembers that Andrew is there, but there's no way to put a lid on it now. So Xander lets Andrew watch. And all at once, Andrew's hand is on his shoulder, gently, hesitantly resting.

Then the hand is gone, and Xander is being gently pushed back on the bed, and covered with the soft comforter. And he's still sobbing, but eventually he slips back away into sleep.

The soft, shallow way Andrew is breathing isn't much.

But it's enough.

**Author's Note**: Don't worry, children. It gets less angsty and far more in character next chapter. Also, why was the bus going so fast, may you ask? Willow is using her powers to speed them up. Mwah ha ha, magic works wonders.

See you next chapter.


	2. Settling In, Part II

**AFTER THIS**

**Chapter Warnings: **Angst. Although, slightly less.

**Feedback: **More of it, please.

**Music: **Naive- The Kooks, Change Your Mind- The Killers, Sia- Breathe Me, Eurythemics- I Saved the World Today.

**A/N: **Change Your Mind was the song I pictured would be playing during the memorial scene. It just fit Xander right there. Also, Breathe Me during the hugging scene.

**CHAPTER II**

When Xander awakens from a hefty sleep, full of absurd dreams of onion blossoms and Han Solo and dancing bears, he briefly wonders where Andrew is. The reality of the previous day doesn't hit as hard this time around, and it dawns on him quickly that today is another day. And it might not be as bad.

He stumbles to the bathroom. Splashes his face with cold water. He should probably take a shower. Wash the blood off his skin. But when he goes to turn it on, he notices a warm body inside. Andrew is lying there, covered by the thin blanket previously on the supplied cot in the room. Xander isn't sure why he's chosen to sleep in the bathtub, but a devious grin spreads over his face as he realizes what he can do.

Slowly, he turns the water to cold and laughing, switches on the shower. Andrew squeals and leaps up, clutching the soaked blanket to himself. "Xanderrr!" Andrew whines, swatting him. "That was so meaaaan!"

Xander tries to stave off the chuckles, making only slight snorting sounds, but soon succumbing to a full on laugh attack. He falls to the floor, rolling around, chortling at the disgruntled, soaked Andrew. Who tries to remain stoic, but soon falls under the influence of the giggles and eventually joins Xander on the floor.

The pair laugh, and laugh, until they're lying on the cold tiles and are both exhausted. "Um. Mr. Giles called me earlier. He said that we should be downstairs by 10. Wants to have... a memorial, or something."

The laughter dissipates and Xander feels the warm, fuzzy feeling melting away. "Right." He says with authority, getting up and brushing himself off. "We should get going."

Andrew follows him with a strange and annoying loyalty, through the parking lot, to where the circle of people are waiting. Xander turns his eyes expectantly to Buffy, and she speaks.

"I know that yesterday, we were all a little tired after fighting for our lifes. And I didn't get a chance to make my big speech-y type thing. And you know I like making speechy type things. Plus, Giles told me if I did this, I would get a cookie."

Buffy graciously greets the laugh, and continues. "Some of you might have wondered why exactly we're in Missouri. Well, Giles and I figured that we should take the remaining Slayers and set up in Cleveland, fighting demons." She pauses for effect.

"If you don't want to come, that's your choice, but I've known most of you for a long time, and I figured you'd want to be by my side. Fighting every evil there is in this world. But if you don't, that's your choice, and I need to respect that. So... is there anyone who doesn't want to come? Because Giles and I can arrange a plane to take you back home, and we'll be fine with that."

Chao-Ann nervously raises a hand, and Buffy nods. "Okay. I figured you wouldn't want to come anyways. Any other Slayers who want to return home and fight from there?"

Most of the Slayers hands go up, and Xander can't really blame them. It's a dangerous life style, and they've done their parts. They deserve to go home and rest. The only ones who opt to stay are Rona, Vi, and Kennedy. Which makes sense. They've been with them the longest, and they're certainly the strongest.

"You should go back to your rooms and pack, then." Buffy says gently, and although the Slayers have nothing to pack, they realize what she means, and leave promptly.

Which leaves the Scoobies. The new Scoobies. Minus a few, plus a few.

"As for those of you left... well, the younger Slayers obviously can't live alone. Giles and I can buy houses- we've got a decent amount of money left, and we figure that after all you've done for us... the_ world... _you at least deserve a nice place to stay. Willow's already found a nice 3 bedroom for her and Kennedy and Dawn and I to live in. Giles will have his own apartment. If Faith and Robin opt to live together, they can take Vi and Rona. Xander, you can take any more Slayers we run into. And Andrew will probably need to find a place with you until he has enough cash to get a place of his own."

Andrew opens his mouth to object, then shuts it abruptly when he catches the look on Giles's face.

"Well... that takes care of the technical angle." Buffy smiles, crossing her arms, nodding to Willow. She nods back, stepping into the center of the failed circle they make, and suddenly a blue fire is floating and flickering in front of them. Willow steps back, beside Xander, and reaches for his hand on one side. Buffy's on the other. Giles touching her. They form a much better circle, all clasping hands.

Andrew's likely sweaty palm is in Dawn's, and to her credit, she doesn't complain.

Images appear in the flickering flame, one by one. People who have passed away in the battle. Fighting for the greater good. Jenny Calender. Giles looks to be fighting back tears as her smiling face slowly dissolves into nothing. Kendra, in the midst of battle. Larry. Buffy's mom. Tara.

Willow starts to sob, and Xander's sure it's because Tara looks so beautiful. And so happy. He squeezes her hand. She looks gratefully at him, then turns her attention back to the flame, where Cassie Newton is smiling in the sun. Jonathan.

He wants to touch Andrew right then. Reassure him. Because the younger boy is sobbing as if his heart will break, wrenching his hand from Dawn's and fleeing. Xander wants to pull away and go to him, but his eyes remain fixated on the flame.

Countless Slayers flash before his eyes. He only manages to catch Amanda and Chloe, and then they're gone. Just like real life, he thinks bitterly.

Then there's Spike, and although Xander feels a tug of resentment, there's a faint gratefulness underneath. But mostly, he's worried for Andrew.

And although he knows it's coming, it's still a sharp pain in the gut to see Anya's face. She looks happy. Xander turns away. He can't look at the fire anymore. Giles sees him, and quietly extinguishes the fire. "Iuguolo incendia."

"Well." Giles removes his glasses and polishes them on the hem of his shirt, a well practiced Giles move. "Well, we've had seven years with each other. I think I need to say something to you all." He takes a deep breath. "First of all, I believe I need to converse with Buffy, Xander, and Willow in private. Thank you, Dawn. Faith. Everyone. It is of course utterly important that you were with us all the last few days and years. Your help has been so extremely amazing, and we're looking forward to the coming years. Again, thank you."

The group mostly disbands, with muttered groans and moans. A beaming Giles emerges from the crowd. "I'm so proud. To have you all as my- well, I don't believe friends is the right word. Family. My children, very nearly, and, well, um."

A choky, happy, teary Buffy whacks him on the arm. He winces. "Spit it out, Giles."

"Well... I love you all very much. Dammit." He wipes his tears on the back of his sleeve. "Willow... you have become a very powerful and controlled person. What you've done is so amazing. And your power is truly spectacular. I love the woman you've matured into." Willow glows at the praise, murmurs a thank you, and wraps her arms around Giles.

Giles turns his attention to Buffy, who's sobbing just a little bit. "My Slayer." His voice wobbles. "You were the closest thing I ever had to a daughter. I constantly worry about you, even now that I know how strong you truly are. The day you died, however temporarly, was truly the worst day of my life. You've changed my entire outlook on life."

Buffy beams, and joins Willow in Giles's arms. They look expectantly to him, and he awaits the Gilesy, cheesy praise. He's not disappointed.

"Xander. You're an impossibly idiotic boy sometimes. And I don't understand your jokes, or your constant need to call me G-man. But your brash bravery and enormous heart more then make up for it. I would be proud to call you my son, and inside my head, I have many a time. I truly wish you the best with your life."

Xander joins his friends in the huge group hug and pretty soon it's a teary mess, hugs and hair stroking and lots of love. It makes him immensely happy.

But pretty soon, he's trudging back to a presumably empty hotel room. He lets himself in, but he's surprised to be greeted by barely stifled sobs.

"Andrew?" Xander calls, stepping in and closing the door behind him. "Seriously, man, what're you doing here sti-"

His feet collide with Andrew, curled up in fetal position, and giving sobs every so often that wrack his slight frame.

"Andrew?" He asks incredously, as though it isn't clear who the small figure is. "Hey, man." Xander's tone softens. "Are you-"

"No." Andrews breathes out between cries. He looks up at Xander with watery, blue eyes, and Xander feels a tug in his gut. The tug usually reserved for Dawn and Willow and Buffy.

The way Andrew's curled up, Xander can barely see his face. So he does the only logical thing. Tugs him up by an arm. Looks quizzically in his eyes.

Andrew squirms under Xander's intense stare, eyelashes long and wet, eyes red. He finally cracks, and blurts out- "I'm so sorry. For what- wh-wh-what I did. To my friend."

And Andrew's sobbing again, and leaning forwards, and Xander reflexievly opens his arms and Andrew falls into them with predetirmined ease. He feels small and slight there, and it occurs to Xander that he's never hugged another man. Been hugged, maybe, but never hugged.

It dissolves into less hugging and more- holding. Andrew's head is pressed into his t-shirt, and it doesn't really feel awesome because it's been the same t-shirt he's worn for two straight days, and Andrew's tears are soaking the front of it. But somehow, he doesn't seem to mind.

Xanders rubs up and down his back, slowly and steadily, like he's done to Dawn so many times before. He wants to put his hands in Andrew's hair and stroke, but that's bordering on a little too gay for him.

Pretty soon Andrew's wrenching himself out of Xander's arms and muttering a thank you and positively fleeing.

And later, when everyone's boarded the bus, he tries to justify it. The aforementioned event. Well, everyone's a little fragile right now, and even Xander just needs to be held, and it's not like he's gay or anything. Andrew just needed to be touched. But oh god not like that.

...maybe like that. But that's one need that Xander won't satisfy.

He stares out the window. Landscapes and scenery that he won't recall hours from now flash past. Greens and blues and browns and grays and a dozen other colors Xander doesn't have time to place.

Eventually, country landscape fades into city, then to country, then back to city, then to suburbia, then to city. It's late- 11, maybe, but everyone is still up, frantically chattering. Buffy's blabbering about the new apartments, which she's somehow managed to already get ahold of, Dawn is talking to Willow about some god awful movie, Giles is droning about the importance of something or other, and Andrew is earnestly debating the merits of Spiderman versus Batman to an sleepy Kennedy.

Faith pulls up to the hotel where they'll be spending the night, and Xander is pleased to see that although it's a chain, it looks as though it has cleaner sheets then the last one.

Dawn begs to sleep in his room in the lobby, and finally he relents. Of course, this means that Dawn, and Willow, and Buffy, and Kennedy, and Robin, and Faith, and Andrew, and Giles, all end up tramping up to his room.

He unlocks the door with a sigh, stepping into a clean smelling room. Buffy throws herself on his bed, waving a fifty, and demands: "Pizza! Too lazyish to get up. Someone order who is not Buffy." Willow takes the bill from her and sighs. "Pepperoni, Dawnie?"

"Si," Dawn says, grinning with pleasure at her accent. "Le pizza, bella." Giles removes his glasses, and, polishing them, says mildly, "Dawn, not to mention that that was the worst imitation of French- or Spanish- or Italian, I'm not quite sure, pizza actually originated in either Naples or Greece, according to recent history. The word pizza is most likely derived from the European mispronunciation of the word pita, which originated in Egypt, and is similar to the pizza in that they both have disc-like qualities."

He's met by stares. Giles sighs, and dons his glasses once more. "Yes, Willow, pepperoni does sounds lovely." Willow nods, and goes to the phone. Faith pipes in for alcohol, and Wood gives her arm an approving squeeze.

And Kennedy is wrapping her arms around Willow's waist, and suddenly the air is thick with coupling and Xander doesn't like it one bit. He chances a glance to the chair Andrew immediately claimed, and big surprise- he's nearly asleep.

Half glazed eyes, pale, bony feet tucked up into the large, comfy chair, head on the armrest and eyelids dropping fast.

"Andrew?" Xander says it far more softly then he should, forgoing the usual harshness he reserves for Andrew. "Hey... hey?"

The lashes drift open and Andrew warms into himself again, stretching his body outwards. "Mmm?" He drawls lazily. Andrew's blue eyes are big and expectant and lined with angelic blonde lashes, and Xander can see that his shirt's stretched down to reach over his collarbone and cling to his slight shoulders more then usual and it's not like he's _noticing_ but- yeah, fuck, he's _noticing_.

He shakes the thoughts out of his head, and his hands move from Andrew's shoulder to his own upper arms, crossing them defiantly. "Well, if you want pizza, Willow's ordering. That's all."

The eyes fall, barely, and Xander forces himself away from Andrew's body and shifts himself onto the bed. Not an easy task, as Willow, Dawn, and Buffy are all flopped on it. He nudges Dawn with a hip and cuddles up beside her to watch TV.

For some extremely awesome reason, _A New Hope _is just starting on the Sci-Fi channel, and Xander nearly beckons Andrew before reminding himself that he doesn't like him. Instead, he petulantly snuggles up to Dawn, lays his head on her shoulder and puts his arm around her, pulling her close. She responds with a happy squeal and snuggles him closer.

Right when Luke is meeting Han Solo for the first time, a knock cuts off Obi Wan mid sentence. Willow rushes to the door. Xander is pondering the fact that Obi Wan kinda looks like Oz when the thought strikes him. Where exactly is Oz?

He thinks to ask Willow, but she's a little sensitive about all things Oz-related, and Xander can't blame her. Instead, he leans over Dawn to quietly ask Buffy.

She shrugs, mimicking his hushed tones. "I don't know. I thought about calling him for help with the First, but I didn't want him to get into danger and I didn't know his phone number." Buffy admits sheepishly.

"Do you think we should..." Xander starts hesitantly. "Let him know we're okay?" Buffy finishes. "Yeah, that's actually kinda a good idea. Tell you what, you remember his last name and we'll get on it in the morning, okay? I'm beat."

Xander nods, and is returning his attention to the tv screen when a barely remembered Andrew pipes in. "Who's Oz?"

Willow freezes in her tracks. Xander mentally smacks himself in the head for ever thinking that Andrew was not an idiot with the least amount of tact humanly possible.

"A-...are you trying to contact him?" Willow breathes out. Xander nods hesitantly. "W-w-w-well..." Willow fidgets, fiddles with her necklaces and bracelets. "Good." She states. "I'd like to see him again."

Andrew shoots him a that-wasn't-so-bad look and Xander glares back a not-off-the-hook-there-yet-sparky look.

He crawls back into the bed, warms himself from the cold November evening by covering himself and the girls with the thick duvet. But as Buffy, and Willow, and Dawn drift off, one by one, Xander can't fall asleep. He just can't.

And when Robin brushes a stray hair off of Faith's forehead before succumbing to sleep himself, and when Giles snores with his face still pressed into his only surviving book, and when Kennedy is sprawled across the floor, and when Andrew is curled in his chair, Xander still lies awake, staring at the ceiling.

It's not a bad ceiling, though.

**A/N: **Oh man. Is there fucking anyone out there reading this? Drop me a line, send me a flame. Tell me you hate it, tell me you love it. Whatever. Oh well, next update in the next couple days.


	3. Settling In, Part III

**AFTER THIS**

**Chapter Warnings: **Angst. Sorry if you hate it, but it gets gradually less over the course of the story.

**Feedback: **I'm a feedback whore. I want more. More more more.

**Music: **Stay -Small Sins, Buttons- Sia, Sugar Water- Cibo Matto, Let Go- Frou Frou, Lost Prophets- Rooftops, These Small Hours- Rob Thomas, I'm Still Here- The Goo Goo Dolls.

**A/N: **So I got my first chapter review, and apparently someone loves it, so, yay! Internal spontaneous combustion of love to you, said patron. Also, I'm attempting to make this a eighth season sort of thing, so chapters are going to come in episode parts. This is the last part of the first "episode". And Oz is going to come back, because he's pretty much my favorite character ever.

**CHAPTER III**

Xander's still awake when Dawn prods him in the ribs at 8:30 in the morning. And when he goes down to breakfast, he doesn't eat, either. The past twenty four hours have been much better, but the pain of missing Anya still gnaws at his insides and makes it impossible to do the things which seemed routine before.

Buffy eagerly shows him to his apartment, and even in his no-sleep daze, Xander can see she's chosen well. Natural light floods in from a skylight, and the walls, although bare, are clean and the bedrooms are big. There's three, so any Slayers that stay with him and Andrew will have their own spaces. He readily thanks her, and steps in with Andrew, marveling.

It's an actual, for real, apartment. Buffy passes him a wad of bills. "That's for furniture and food and clothes and stuff, until you have a job." She warns. "No DVD's. No comics. No action figures. Got it, Andrew?"

Andrew meekly nods.

Yet, somehow, at the end of the day, they end up flopped on the couch, one of the only pieces of furniture, watching the new Star Trek DVD's and giggling gleefully over Spock.

Andrew is crunching on french fries and Xander wrinkles up his nose, trying to look exasperated, but only succeeding in looking goofy.

"Tomorrow, I'll have the effort to get off my ass. And we'll have broccoli." Xander envisions, nearly drooling. "I'm so sick of grease. If I never saw a- a- something with grease again, I'd be a happy man."

"You didn't eat your burger." Andrew says pointedly. "Can I-"

"Sure." Xander says, sliding it across the coffee table. "Go nuts, Hannibal Lector."

Andrew nervously nibbles on one side of the burger. "So, what's the deal with this Oz guy?" He asks pointedly. "Is he, like, a vampire or a ghoul or a Dalek, or what?"

"None. He's an old, good, friend and he used to date Willow. Plus, he's a werewolf."

"Oh. Cool" Andrew resumes his shredding of the burger, then freezes abruptly. "Like- lesbian Willow?"

"Yes, Andrew, that is her full name." Xander stretches out his feet to gently touch Andrew's side. He doesn't seem to mind. In fact, as rarely as it happens, Andrew seems to be... deep in thought. "Andrew?" Xander nudges him with his toes.

"So... he and Willow broke up?" Andrew muses, with an unfair amount of innocence. And those eyes. Oh god, the naive eyes. "Why?"

Xander draws in a breath, deep and slightly shaky. He doesn't know why, but he's already sketching in parallels in his mind. Drawing them to match Willow's with a trembling hand.

"Because, Andrew, sometimes people change."

He has to turn away then, because the too bitter tone he's used combined with the burning in his chest just gets to be too much. It's like Anya created the hole, which is shitty enough, and the essence of Andrew is like pouring hot sauce around the edges. Andrew makes Alexander Harris hurt inside and he's not sure why.

"Sorry." Andrew mutters in a whiny tone. "Didn't mean to upset you or whatever." He promptly dumps the rest of his burger on the coffee table. "I'm going to bed. Not like you care."

"No, Andrew, wait-" Xander protests weakly. But it's too late, the door has slammed and Xander winces. He sighs. It's late, and they're supposed to be at the newly appointed Slayer Central at nine in the morning.

Xander throws himself on the bed, covers himself, doesn't even take off his clothes and attempts to sleep. But he doesn't. Things play out like the previous night, except the ceiling is different, and the ache of the guilt so heavy that he lays on his side to take some of the pressure off his chest.

There comes a timid knock at his door the instant the clock blinks 4:30 and Xander sighs. "Andrew...?" He rasps, throat sore. "Is everything okay?"

The door swings upon and reveals Andrew, clutching himself. He's not crying, but he looks so frightened and _small _inside his slightly too big pajamas that it hurts Xander on the inside a little bit. "Xander?" His voice cracks. "I'm really cold. And really scared. And this house makes weird squeaky noises. Can I..."

"Sleep here?" Xander finishes. He sighs. "Maybe. All right. But just for tonight, okay?" Andrew nods, padding up to Xander and crawling in bed beside him. Andrew's cold feet touch Xander's too hot ones and both parties flinch and mumble a sorry.

Andrew turns away from him, and after a couple minutes Xander can hear barely stifled sniffles. And it becomes unbearable to Xander nearly the moment after it's begun.

"Andrew..." He sighs, turning back towards the boy and propping himself up on an elbow. "Did you come in here because you had a bad dream?"

The shift in the bed indicates a nod. "Was it about The First?"

A shake.

"A-anya?" Xander pushes the words out with force.

A shake.

"Jonathan?"

A shake.

"..._Warren_." Xander hisses the words, and the rare silence that follows indicates he's got it right.

"Did he die again?"

"No." Andrew chokes out. "He hurt me."

"Physically? Mentally?"

"Mentally." Andrew turns to face him, tear tracks staining the pillow. His hair is royally messed up, sticking up all over the place. Xander is wrought with the sudden desire to smooth it down. But he doesn't. Instead, he reaches out to Andrew, who flinches slightly. Xander runs the pad of his thumb over Andrew's tear stained cheeks.

And he worries so hard that his no doubt creased and worried expression will betray the notion that he doesn't care about Andrew at all. Not one bit.

He keeps stroking his cheek until his hurried breathing evens and Andrew falls asleep. And Xander closes his eyes, just for a moment, just to think, and before he knows it, he is brilliantly, wonderfully asleep.

Although, it is slightly strange to wake up with an Andrew needly pressed against you, hands fisted in your pajamas. Xander sputters, shifts backwards, falls off the bed with a heady thump, and awakens Andrew.

"JESUS PICARD!" He shouts, and Xander stares incredulously before bursting into startled laughter. Andrew flashes him an embarrassed smile, and Xander looks away quickly before he can get immersed in it.

Immersion in Andrew's acts has become strangely more conflicted and weird and gooey the past few days. Whenever Xander hazards a touch to him, his flesh burns, but not in a bad way. In a nervous, excited, good way. He'll chalk it up to post war nerves for yesterday. But today- new start. Heterosexual man coming through. No staring at Andrew's ass...ets. Various assets. Right.

He nods, feeling rather important. Xander has a mission. Slayer central.

Xander and Andrew stride in, but Xander halts when he sees the look on Buffy's face. "Hey, who broke your heart?" He asks, cautiously.

"Drusilla." Willow says glumly, running a fingernail around the edge of one of Giles's glasses. "Dru broke your heart?" Xander says jokingly, trying to hide the sharp note of apprehension. "Wow, Buff, worst straight girl ever much?"

"Drusilla. Is back in town. Threatening us with a new power. Buffy and I ran into her last night on patrol." Faith says pointedly. "Xander, do shut up." Giles supplies helpfully. "Now, we've seen from several eye witnesses that she does seem to be weaker then usual, so that's a plus."

"Probably grieving over Spike." Andrew points out. "Precisely. We should manipulate that and use it against her. However, she does seem to wield a large team of vampires and another power. We're not quite sure of what it is yet."

"Well, do we have any clues?" Xander asks. Dawn rifles through her papers and Xander doesn't think he's ever seen Giles look more proud. "Very little to go on. According to Buffy, Drusilla mentioned a '_Carnival of apples, all juicy and round. Little bunnies bite them still, but the big carrot is nowhere to be found. Until the biggest bunny of all comes up from the ground_.'"

"So, we're looking at a vampire fueled apocalypse. Nothing too difficult." Rona snorts dismissively. "We've done that at least twice."

"Yes, but all the same. We'd do well to be careful until we know more about the situation. Xander, could you patrol tonight with Rona and Faith?" Giles asks.

"Sure, G-man!"

"Xander, I've ASKED YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT AND- never mind. Fine."

After a little bit, Xander chances pulling Willow aside. "What is it, Xan?" She questions, tugging at her ponytail. "Something worrisome?"

"Depends on how you look at it." Xander says dryly. "Uh... Will? How did you know you were... gay and not just curious?" He rushes the last part. Xander doesn't even know why he's asking the question. Maybe he's curious. About the outcome of the conversation, of course.

She ponders. "I guess... the first time I kissed Tara, that's when I knew for sure. Because it just felt like a welcome change. I just assumed that maybe I was a straight girl who fell in love with a woman, but maybe I'm a lesbian who fell in love with a man. Y'know. Oz." Willow clarifies.

"Okay." That so doesn't help him. "And before that?"

"Uh... I guess I'd always thought about being with a woman but I just kinda... suppressed the feeling. Why?" She stares at him suspiciously. "Xander, are you having a gay crisis?"

"No! God, no, Willow! Keep it down! I'm just curious."

She flashes him a devious grin. "Sometimes it starts like that. Seriously, Xan, I won't think less of you. And it doesn't mean you're actually gay."

He runs his hands through his hair, sticking it up. Xander is far more nervous then he needs to be, and he realizes that. "Um... I guess, I kind of maybe like a guy. But it's a fluke!" He adds hastily. "It's just a post Anya clingy thing!"

"Sure, sure. But if you're ready to talk about him, just let me know." Willow walks away from him and he's left alone again.

There's got to be some sort of demon causing this, because it's not Xander's crotch that springs up at the post showered Andrew, and it's not Xander's eyes that light up when he does that weird pouty thing with his kissable lips and it's not his smile that plays across his face whenever Andrew speaks.

Because, y'know. He's annoying. Xander's straight. He's oil. Xander's water. They just, purely, simply, don't fit.

**A/N: ***devious giggle* End episode one. This'll probably have 22 "episodes" in keeping with Buffy tradition.


	4. Liking It Rough

**AFTER THIS**

**LIKING IT ROUGH**

**Chapter Warnings: **Pre-sex, both slash and femmeslash. But it doesn't really go beyond makeouts and arousal, so I didn't want to go for M. Very slight mention of Giles/Ethan.

**Feedback: **GIVE IT TO ME BABY! UH HUH, UH HUH!

**Music: **Unrequited Love-Holding Mercury, Popular Mechanics- Beulah, Overnight-Aya, A Beautiful Lie- 30 Seconds to Mars, a bunch of Coldplay, Your Heart is an Empty Room- DCFC.

**Summary:** An Concito demon arrives in Cleveland before Xander and the gang even have time to locate the Hellmouth. Can Xander overcome his attraction to Andrew to defeat it? More importantly... does he want to?

**A/N: **So, basically, this chapter I'm going to try and flesh out a little bit. Tell some of Willow's story, some of Xander's story, some of Andrew's story. It'll still be Xander centric, but there's a lot of stuff going on and I want time to cover it all. It's kinda non Buffy centric- the whole story- but oh well. Also, no more parts, 'cause they're a bitch to split up. So from now on it'll just be episode by episode which means more sporadic updates, but bigger ones. Enjoy.

**EPISODE 2**

A light haired boy is propped up in bed, reading a book. With a sigh, he turns to the light and goes to flick it off, but before he can, a dark haired girl clambers through his window. With one deft move, she has his pants undone and is positioning herself over him.

"Ella?" He asks, stunned. "Wh-what are you doing? Here?"

"I want you, Stan." She says, smiling with her beautiful red lips. "I want you so badly. Inside me. Forever and ever."

And with that, she lowers herself.

The wail of the dying man echoes throughout the house, and throughout the suburbs of Cleveland.

Dawn returns home from her first day of school ecstatic. "Oh my god, you guys, I heard the nastiest thing today!"

"Yeah, Dawnie?" Willow asks absently, stirring two different pots at once, while a lazy Xander watches on.

"So, Kristin Hully told Jasper who told Emily who told Rona who told me that apparently Stan Green had his dick, like, totally chopped off when he was found dead last night. So nasty." Dawn finishes proudly.

A nearby Giles fakes retching into the pot he's washing. Dawn glares.

"Is that a sign of a demon, Giles?" Willow asks, still stirring the pots. "Well, I- could be, yes. But a lust demon would work ways, raping females and then killing them, and castrating males. We'll need to check for increases of sexual murders in the area."

Xander nods. "Sounds like fun. Sorry, Will, you'll have to find someone else to help you."

"Wha- Xander!" Willow chucks a fork at him and he playfully doges, artfully stalking through the doorway. He peers around one last time. Willow's now peeling potatoes. "Uh, by the way. You guys seen Andrew?"

"Last I heard, he was back at you guyses place." Dawn mentions, pulling pencil and paper out of her bag and sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Great. Thanks."

"Andrew?" Xander calls as he steps into the flat. He's greeted by the fragrant smell of baking, something with cheese, something with vanilla... Andrew steps out from the doorway. "Xander. Dinner in an hour. Where have you been?" He whines.

Xander sighs, kicking off his boots. "I thought we discussed this. I've been looking for work."

"Any luck?" Andrew asks hopefully, dumping a tray of something in the oven.

"Not really. A couple of carpentry jobs, but I'd much rather work in construction. Are those cookies?" He asks hopefully, reaching for one. Andrew slaps his hand away.

"Oh, we've got a new demon." Xander tells Andrew, seating himself at the table and drumming on it with his fingertips. "Most likely a lust demon, though I'm supposed to look up crime history for any rapes in the last couple weeks. Also, I'm supposed to look up something about Oz. Where'd you leave the laptop?"

"My room, on the desk." Andrew says, fiddling with the edge of his "Watchers do it voyeuristically!" apron.

"Cool, thanks." Xander tramps to Andrew's room, flips open the laptop. The internet's already opened, and after a few minutes of careful consideration, he googles the name: Daniel Osbourne.

Instantly, a result pops up reading: Daniel "Oz" Osbourne: The Hot (Cool) New Kid on the New York Music Scene.

Xander skims the article and grins. That would be their Oz.

Willow swings open the door to the bedroom that she and Kennedy share, smiling wide.

"Hey love, I had the greatest day at work today! I love working in a library, you get the cutest kids. One even asked me if- oh my gosh that is a nice bra."

Kennedy grins up at her from the bed, sprawled across it like a present, splaying herself to Willow willingly. "You like?"

"Yeah..." Willow whispers, shimmying up the bed to plant a kiss on her girlfriends lips. Shortly after, she pulls back. "Also, Xander called to say that he's found Oz, so-"

"Wait." Kennedy says, pushing herself up from under Willow. She glares pointedly. "Oz, your ex boyfriend, Oz?"

"Well, erm, yes, but, it's not like that!" Willow attempts to reassure her girlfriend. "Not anymore. I love you now."

"You know what? I don't feel like doing this right now." Kennedy storms out of the room. "Kennedy!" Willow calls after her dejectedly. "Kennedy, c'mon! Don't be such a bitch!"

"A bitch?" Kennedy wheels around. "Yeah, a bitch. I barely mention Oz and you go all pysco on me. Calm down." Willow wheedles at her girlfriend, sending puppy dog eyes up at her.

"No. I think I'll sleep at Faith's house tonight, thank you."

Willow is left alone in the living room, feeling, and looking, dejected and hurt.

Over the past few days, Xander and Andrew have developed a few rituals. First of all, the official movie after dinner routine. It doesn't matter when they eat, or what movie it is, but they always have to watch a movie after dinner. And if one of them falls asleep, a tickle fight ensues and it's never pretty.

Second, the What-Next game. It all began when Andrew, drunk after nary a sip of beer, began asking _What Next ? _after everything Xander said. He willingly played along, and they'd made a tradition of it.

Third, the sleep routine. Every single night, Xander would stay up until Andrew came to his room in the single digits, confessing: "_I can't sleep._" Then they would crawl into bed with each other and let their breathing match each others and drift away.

It was an abusively regular pattern, and though both parties realized that it would've merely been easier to start the night out with each other, that would've been like admitting defeat. This way, they kept their manliness and at least five or six hours of sleep. But lately, Xander couldn't drift away unless he was lying next to Andrew, listening to him snore and sleeptalk and roll around.

Xander realizes how immature it is to be playing this games. He's a grown man, and he's with Andrew, another grown man. Well, not with him with him. But with him. Even Dawn is too old for them. But they have fun, and Xander occasionally even finds himself liking the strange man.

He doesn't want the day when Andrew moves out, and it's a weird thought.

A very weird thought.

Andrew is at Giles's place, hanging- well, researching, technically, but only because Giles had asked him to never use the term hanging in conjunction with him.

Mr. Giles has sort of become the only member of the Scooby Gang who's really accepted him. Xander's relationship with him, if it can even be called that, is this dumb, sporadic, Mulder and Scully relationship minus the romance.

Which is super 1995, because Andrew wants him.

He wants him badly. Not just because he's been gay ever since Lord of the Rings came out on DVD, and Aragon got all sweaty in several scenes.

He wants Xander because of just how brown his eyes are, and because he touches him and his hands feel cool and good, and he's not shy to hug him, and he's a good guy and he's Andrew's Han Solo, his knight in shining armor, and he hates himself for talking like a girl but yeah, he like-likes Xander.

Andrew constantly thinks he should warn Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Giles even, just to tell someone and lift the weight off his chest just a fraction.

"You do know, of course, that you need to actually open the books to research?" Giles comments drily. "Dead weight." He scoffs, but there's a slight fatherly undertone and Andrew is pleased with himself for having caught it.

"Have you found anything?" Andrew asks, leaning across the table to try and catch a view of the book Giles has open. Giles sighs, pointing out the text he's reading with the tip of his glasses. "Well, there's a infamous vampire who rapes his victims before he kills them, but he's only interested in males and that's doesn't explain the rise in female victims."

"Maybe we're dealing with a human." Andrew suggests, leaning back on his chair. "Oh, don't say that." Giles moans dejectedly. "Then we have to involve the police and we really shouldn't call attention to ourselves. Also, don't do that."

"Whyyy?" Andrew whines, then proceeds to accidentily flip himself onto the ground. Giles sighs, going to pick him up. "Because that'll happen. And those chairs are new, you ninny."

"Um... Mr Giles?" Andrew begins hesitantly. He has no idea why he's saying this, but he really, really need to get it off his chest. "What if... you had a friend... and say, this friend... was interested in another... erm, male... but that other... erm, male, probably wasn't interested back, due to being... erm... heterosexual..."

Giles claps a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Believe it or not, Andrew, I have cracked your ingenious code, and trust me, it's all right to feel this way. God knows I experimented in my Ripper days. It's only natural. However- I can't really reciprocate your feeling, but know that I'll always be here for y-"

"No no no!" Andrew holds up his hands in defeat. "This is, er, someone else. You don't know him." He adds hastily.

Giles raises an eyebrow. "Well, I guess I can't give you wise, sagely advice if I don't know the man in question. Too bad... I had some very Obi-Wanistic advice to give. He is called Obi-Wan, correct?"

Andrew sighs in defeat. "Yes, Giles. Obi-Wan."

"Hey, Will!" Xander calls, walking into the house that she inhabits. "So I found out more about the rapes. There's been a definate increase of them, in females, and males, castrations, murders... I was going over to Giles's place, but I figured if you wanted to come-"

He turns to go to the living room, but he's blocked off by a figure on the doorway. "Andrew?" Xander asks incredously. "I thought you were supposed to be at Giles's place, to help with research."

Andrew emerges from the doorway, not nervously fidgeting as Xander would expect him to be, but standing tall. Shirt pulled to one side, bare feet, loose jeans, tousled hair, intense stare. Basically, he looks extremely fucking hot and a shiver just runs up Xander's spine at the sight of him.

"Hello." He croaks loosely. "Um... I'm heading over to Giles's, and, um-"

Andrew cuts him off. "I want you, Xander." He advances, slowly.

"Oh, you mean like a friend?" Xander laughs nervously. "Okay, good, I like having you around, and-" Pretty soon Xander's pushed against a wall and there's a Andrew on tip-toe, leaning up to circle warm hands around the back of Xander's neck and suddenly, oh god, oh god, there are warm Andrew lips laying open mouthed kisses at his collarbone and he's suddenly, painfully, hard.

"Andrew..." Xander tries to shout it, but it comes out like a sigh of defeat. Andrew pulls back to grin before diving back in to Xander's collarbone. "I want you so badly," He murmurs against Xander's collarbone, the vibrations sending delight through his frame. "Andrew..." He threads his hands through Andrew's short hair, groaning in delight as Andrew works his way up to Xander's ear, sucking on the lobe, breathing short hot breaths there and Xander shudders.

Because this is good. A little too good. A little too unexpected. A little too lusty... "WILLOW!" Xander shouts. "WILLOW! WE HAVE A SLIGHT PROBLEM!"

Willow comes running down the stairs. "Xander, what?" She catches sight of the two of them and sucks in a breath. "Xander?" Willow asks suspiscously. "Why is Oz back and what exactly is he doing to your earlobe?"

"Huh?" Xander raises an eyebrow in confusion. "This isn't Oz. This is Andrew." The maybe Oz, maybe Andrew _thing _is looking between them in confusion, but all at once he leaps out the first story window, bounding away into the night. Xander's arousal instantly fades. He turns to his best friend. "Okay, so what the _hell _was that?"

"I think we need to go to see Giles." Willow says fearfully. "Right." Xander pulls on his wonderfully heavy new coat for protection against the November night.

"A Concito demon. Of course. How could I have been so stupid?" Giles whacks his forehead with an open palm. "It all fits. The increases in rape, changing of form..."

"So how does this thing function?" Dawn asks, intrigued, sitting backwards on a chair.

"Well, I'm not sure if this is appropriate for children of your age-" Dawn looks at him, affronted. "But, well, a Concito demon feeds off sexual fluid and reproductive organs. They drain the body of both, and the victim slowly loses blood and dies."

"Ugh." Buffy shudders, turning the page. "So what's with the shape shifting?"

"Apparently, it shifts into the form of whomever you most desire. Er, sexually. That, combined with it's natural aphrodisiac makes it nearly impossible to resist." Giles continues, lowering himself into a armchair.

"Oh." Willow and Xander breathe simultaneously.

"However, it is easy to kill. Multiple people with different desires cause it pain, and if enough are present, it often implodes as a result. Which is why it fled when Willow approached Xander. Also, be aware that it, as opposed to the first, can only take form of those who walk the earth. Not those who are dead, but those who walk the earth. So, zombies, vampires, etc, can all be personified."

Buffy flips a stake. "So, I say we just find it and all hang out near it. We'll confuse it, and poof! No more horny demon!"

Giles sighs. "I wish it were that easy, Buffy. First, we need to find this thing. Xander- Willow- I want you searching the internet and papers for any rapes, sexual murders, etc. Buffy, Faith, Kennedy, Rona, Vi, Dawn- split into teams and patrol, until this thing is found."

"There goes Friday's plans." Dawn mutters. "Can I at least sleep over at Andrew and Xander's tomorrow night?"

"Oh, all right." Giles relents. "You all go and I'll research tracking from here. But first, get a good nights sleep. And be wary of anyone acting- unusual. Class dismissed."

On the way out, Xander is about to head home when he realizes a crossed arms, teared up Willow looking at him. "Oh, WIll, what? Don't cry, I-"

"Andrew? Really, Xander?"

Oh fuck oh fuck. One for Willow, one for him. _The one you most desire... _Wait. Oz?

He crosses his arms back at her. "Well, I guess we both have secrets."

"Yeah, Xander. I guess we do."

"Me first." Xander sighs, uncrossing his arms in defeat. "Okay, yes, maybe I do have slight feelings for Andrew. Romantic, sometimes sexual feelings. But it's a desperation thing, a post Anya, getting over it, thing. And I don't mean to be rude, but OZ? You could've told us that after, what, three, four years, you're not over him?"

"I guess they take our second choices if the first are dead?" Willow says in a panicky tone. "I'm a crappy lesbian. I, am a crap lesbian! I'm a crap girlfriend! Shit, I have a girlfriend."

"And I'm a crap heterosexual." Xander echoes her panicked voice. "I'm in like? Love? Lust? With the man who hurt us so much?"

He drops his ass on the curb and buries his head in his hands. "Sorry, I stole your gay thing Willow." Xander says guiltily.

"Sorry I got mad at you, Xander." She says back, and drops on the curb beside him. Willow sighs, then links her pinkie with his. "How did we end up here? Where do we go after this?"

"Well, I'm going to go home and attempt to not jump Andrew. You're probably going to go home and have sex. Lucky." Xander says enviously.

"I don't think Kennedy wants to be with me much right now." Willow confesses, drawing her hands back. "She's mad 'cause you contacted Oz."

"Oops?"

Willow ruffles his hair affectionately. "You suck."

"Yeah. I know."

Xander steps into the flat the next day, feet heavy. "Hey, Andrew." He says, wearily, easing himself onto the couch. "Super rough job interview, but I think I did pretty well. I'm really tired though, so can you try and be-"

A resounding "FUCK!" echoes through the apartment, accompanied by a loud video game "BLOOP BLOOP" and Xander screw up his forehead, wincing. "Andrew, please?" He calls weakly, and Andrew peers around his bedroom door. "What's wrong? You sick?"

Xander sighs, repeats the problem. "So. Quiet. Please." He groans, flopping back on the couch. Andrew bounds over the couch arm and sits beside him. "What happened?" He asks, and Xander notes the almost concerned tone in his voice with thrill.

"Well, basically, the interview was really fucking hard, and I didn't have change for the bus, so I walked forty block and my feet really hurt. I think I've got the job, though." Xander says halfheartedly, then leans back to rest his head on the armrest.

"So basically, I'm really stressed out, and I need X-Files and napping. And tea?" Xander asks hopefully. Andrew holds up a steaming mug. "I guess you'd need it."

Xander gratefully sips and Andrew watches him with interest. "What?" Xander asks mildly. "Nothing." Andrew says hastily, looking away from him again. "You're just aesthetically pleasing."

Xander's heart leaps in his chest, but he forces himself to keep the heterosexuality. "Yeah. Girlfriends have told me that. When they weren't too busy trying to eat my skin."

"You dated skin eating demons?" Andrew asks incredulously.

"At least two." Xander nods reluctantly. He takes another sip of the tea. "Mmm. That's good."

He rests his head on the pillow, nearly purring. Xander's cold, but the weight of Andrew on the couch is good, and Scully is doing something extremely cool involving an alien and things are good.

_Things are always better when I'm with Andrew and I hate it. _Xander reminds himself seconds before Andrew's hands stroke lazily up his ankle and he closes his eyes under the touch.

"Kennedy?" Willow says. Her girlfriend stands in the doorway, wearing a neutral expression. "I'm sorry, Willow. It wasn't fair of me to get jealous over Oz. We'll probably never see him and I'm just- sorry." Kennedy drops her lashed eyes and stares at Willow up through them.

"Can I reuse those underwear now?" Kennedy asks with a purr. Willow hazards a glance to Dawn, who's playing video games with an exasperated Giles in the living room. "Okay." She murmurs, slipping upstairs with her.

Once they're there, it's a flurry of clothes, tongue, fingers, oh god oh god. In the midst of the action, Kennedy lifts her head from between Willow's legs and licks her lips. "Better then Oz?" She purrs, and Willow nods frantically.

Kennedy is amazing when she presses right there and- oh. All thought gone. All thoughts are extremely gone.

Buffy's eating chips in her room when Dawn bursts in. "God, Dawn!" She shrieks, pulling the blankets around herself. "Knock much?"

"Sorry, Buff, but we're got a situation downstairs. Unless Elijah Wood is actually in our basement, we've got a lust demon on our hands. C'mon, Giles is already keeping it cornered and Willow's headed down." Dawn says urgently.

"Fine." Buffy pulls in her housecoat and descends the stairs with apprehension. The one you most desire... if she sees Angel, she's going to be wigged out and she's not going to be able to kill the damn thing.

She wasn't expecting it to turn to her as she descended the stairs and morph into Spike.

"Giles!" Buffy screams. "It's doing weird things! It's changing into someone who doesn't exist anymore!"

"No, that's impossible, Buffy." Giles says slowly, descending on the creature, who is frantically moving, and Buffy's wigging because it looks just like Spike. "Whoever you're seeing, they still walk the earth. But we can deal with that later."

All of the sudden, the creature leaps at Giles, and with a yelp, he's knocked back on the floor. All of Buffy's Spike thoughts rush out of her head and she quickly grabs the nearest tool- a garden hoe, and proceeds to stab the hell out of the creature.

Kennedy comes running down the stairs, barely clothed. "What the hell? Why is Keira Knightly on our- oooooh." She says hastily. "Got it already, didn't you Buffy. Right. Get rid of it, please, before my humiliation kills someone."

Buffy gladly complies, dragging the body out to the trash and tossing it in, wiping her hands on her skirt on the way back in. She shudders. If there's even a remote chance that Spike is, somehow, alive- Buffy shakes the thoughts off. She needs Giles to figure this thing out with her, and she most certainly needs a phone call to Angel.

Andrew comes into his room at exactly the right time that night, and Xander wordlessly shifts in his bed. He clambers in beside him and just before the breathing gets to be soothing enough for Xander to fall asleep, Andrew speaks.

"Xander? I can't sleep without you anymore. I know that's dumb and needy, but I guess I need some comfort right now, and yeah. I just... I need you."

Xander stays staring at the wall for several minutes before answering back. "I need you too."

He gropes under the blanket for Andrew's hand, but once he has it, he clasps it tightly and doesn't let go. He turns back to Andrew. Props himself up on an elbow.

Andrew has this look on his face that is so innocent that in other other situation would be hilarious. Now, it's just painful.

"Look, Andrew..." Xander sighs, running his hand through his already bed-messy hair. "I care about you a lot, and I... I hope you don't think that-"

Andrew's eyes, big and wide, are staring up at him, and he's about to launch into the big we're-just- friends-and-I'm-straight-as-an-arrow speech, when a knock comes at the door. Xander glances at the clock. It's three in the morning.

Nervously, he gets up. Vampires have to be invited in, and Buffy called to say they took care of the lust demon, but that doesn't explain why someone is at his door at three in the fucking morning.

Cautiously, he creaks the door open.

Xander's eyes go first to the dark, painted nails, and the big hands, then to the three guitar cases and the penmarked vans. They drift up over the collarbone, where necklaces gather, then to the face a good 5 inches below where a usual face should be.

"Hey," says Oz.

"Hey," says Xander.

**A/N: **Oz, he is back. Also, I know the chapters are getting rather short, but I need this so I don't spend years writing this story. This way, I'll actually finish it. The third "episode" will hopefully be up by Thursday.


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